Can anyone show me any photos or diagrams to illustrate how the REAR portion of the aspec body kit affixes to the car???

here is why I ask... my RL was just hit in a parking lot. the person backed into me and put some scratches/gouges into the rear bumper. I had it looked at by a body shop and got a quote of about $800 to fix it. the bumper is oka, but needs to be removed, repainted, reinstalled.

It got me thinking - I could get the aspec kit - subsidize the cost by using the $800 ins money and perhaps the damage would be covered anyway by the body kit.

thanks.

 

Look in the garage, and there is a section with Acura installation instructions...
Is this what you are looking for?
http://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/pubs/AI/BII31145.pdf

 

go to my thread in the photo section

 

the location where my car got whacked/scratched is basicallly in the middle of the bumper, about mid height... it's likely "close" to where the aspec b umper joins to the real bumper.

i could pocket the $800 they will give me, and just buy the whole aspec kit and it would cover up the "damage"...no need to paint it at all.... easy way to get my aspec kit cost subsidized...

BUT, the kit would need to go high enough to cover up the part that is scratched on my car... i'll have to look clsoely as those pics and see exactlyh where my damage is in relation to the area where aspec joins up to the bumper - what parts get covered and what doesn't...

 

here are two pics I took of the damage to my car. from looking at other photos of people with full aspec kits - i DON'T think the aspec kit woudl totally cover the damage..you can see there are a couple small scrapes in the middle area of the bumper and then some larger scrapes down lower. the lower ones would likely be covered, but i'm guessing if i did NOT fix the damage, and just stuck on teh aspec k it, there would be a couple scratches just above the seam where hte aspec goes onto the bumper.

i was quoated around $800 froma GOOD body shop to remove, paint, reinstall my bumper.

i am looking into a bumper doc type place, to see what they woudl charge to fix the "upper" areas..i might be able to get a good quality fix on just the portions that would show - and then use the leftover money to rationalize buying the aspec kit... ia laredy have the decklid spoiler, so I'd only need the front,sides, and rear, which I believe I could get for around $1000-1100 shipped.

minus the $800 i get from insurance, and some possible "loss of use" money and I might end up wtih an aspec kit for a couple hundred bucks "out of pocket". this would of course al be legit and non fraud as I don't have to fix it, they just have to pay me for the cost of a coplete repair, and how i choose to fix it is up to me...

i could probably ge ta bumper shop to fix the two little upper scrpes for $100-200 max...

so it wion't be "free", but I could wind up with an aspec kit for CHEAP.

only downside is THEN i will want to add wheels/tires and lower the car.. b/c it may look funny at stock ride height, wtih stock 17s and a full aspec kit!! here are pics of my damage.

 

wow.. 800$ for that huh? There goes 2 iphones.

 

from what i have looked at i think it will cover a majority, but maybe half or a little less of the top scratch will show, I am not positive but i think you would be able to get away hiding it very well though. It's worth you can pick the kit up from the vendor I am going to buy mine from he's got a good price on the kit you probably would only have to spend 600 bux or so

 

the upside for ME is that ther person who h it me is at fault and their insurance is paying. i got an estimate from a VERY ncuie body shop - $800ish to fix it RIGHT.

I could pocket the $800, then just buy the front, sides, rear of the aspec kit, pay to install, and see what is still showing. if a little bit of the scratch is showing, spend $200 at a bumper shop to spray the little spot. they will be so small they woudl likley be an easy fix.

i have seen vendors here saying the ENTIRE kit (including spoiler) is like $1400 shipped. I don't need the spoiler, and that's about a $250 part... so figure i get the whole thing for $1200. minus the $800 i pocket, and i could get the kit for 400 out of pocket.

then i have to pay install..

what is a fai rprice to pay a dealer to install this kit? i really do not want to attempt to tackle it myself. i want the dealer to do it - and get the warranty on it.

$500? more / less?

thanks.

 

i think the dealer ranges anywhere from 500 to 700 or so

 

how hard is it to DIY? is it easy to make a mistake and then ruin teh car and/or kit? or is it easy but just time consuming???

 

thats what I'm trying to figure out it can't be that complicated.... someone with a-spec experience please chime in

 

So these "official" Acura instructions give you no clue on the complexity? That's all I can think of.

http://estore.honda.com/accesssory-i...L&modelname=RL

 

the rear bumper has to completely come off same with the front. skirts pop right in. I did everything myself and its pretty time consuming with the cutting and drilling to mount the rear. If youre located in SD we can work something out

 

I can get you a deal for the kit and install for no more than 1200

 

dam steve wish you were in new jersey I don't wanna get ripped on the install.....

 

lstevennl -

I' IM'd you. let me know where in San Diego you are. I'm in Temecula - just up the freeway. sounds like a good deal. is this through a dealership? are you affiliated iwth an Acura dealer?

 

um.... the bottom part of the scratch will def. be cover up by the a-spec kit.... the top part, prob. won't.... but $800..... that's way too steep..... you can get the entire a-spec kit for that much... plus if you get it painted, you might loose that vin sticker that comes with original bumper so better not do it....

 

what do you mean if I get it painted I will lose a VIN sticker? I know the original body panels have little stickers on them...do they have the cars' VIN on them, so people can tell if yo've changed out body panels? what if the rear bumper is just resprayed...I won't lose any stickers..unless body shops by law have to pull them off if they repaint a panel...

i'm not sure what you mean - please explain.

Also - please tell me where i can get the ENTIRE aspec kit for $800. I will buy it in a heartbeat at that price!!

most of the online sellers I've seen are selling it for about $1100-1200. about $400 for each section (F / R / sides). did you get yours for $800 and if so = WHERE?!?!?!

 

if they repaint, they are going to repaint the entire bumper requiring it all to be re-prepped therefore your stickers would be removed...

 

that sucks.... if I go to "bumperdoc" or those other quickie bumper fix shops - they will NOT remove the bumper. they just repair it and spray/blend it right there on the car. I got a quote of $265 to fix it via one of those places.... although I'm nervous about taking my RL to such a low budget place... i wonder if it woudl truly match as good as a real body shop job that does the whole bumper AND I wonder if it would lost or woudl hte paint start flaking/peeling in a few years...

in general I think you get what you pay for...

does Acura sell new bumpers pre-painted so that I can just buy an OEM bumper painted and slap it on? or do they all come unpainted? on a prior car (Volvo) they sold prepainted bumpers from the factory - which made it really easy/cheap to repalce them... it was cheaper to buy them prepaintd rom volvo than to get an unpainted one and have a body shop do it...

the body shop told me Acura only sells the accessories painted, and the buymper covers are all unpainted...

in my quest to fix up my car- I could just get the aspec kit and then cover up as much as I can with the kit - and if there is a small section that is still exposed - hit it with some touch up paint and see how good/bad it looks.. it literally might only be a small spot the size of a pencil eraser...

 

so where can I get the OEM spec kit for $800??

another option is to have my rear end fixed inexpensively at bumper docs,and purchase ONLY the front section of the aspec kit. I've seen supergreen's car, and he has just the front lip, while the rest is stock..although he does have the fender mud flaps ...and his car looks great...of course he has 19" wheels and is lowered..which helps...

that's always an option if I want to do it piece by piece...